Around New England

Walpole High Rebels Surrender

June 20, 2020

Walpole High School will no longer use Rebels as its nickname, as Wicked Local reported on Thursday evening.

The Walpole School Committee voted unanimously (7-0) to stop using the nickname. Walpole has been nicknamed the Rebels since 1968, reportedly a reference to the Confederacy.

Now, a committee is supposed to come up with options for a new school nickname.

The new nickname committee will reportedly include “minority students and alumni, the high school principal, varsity coaches, the METCO director, members of the student council, members of the student body at large, a representative of the alumni association, the director of the pride program, a member of the Gay-Straight Alliance, and a Fine Arts department representative.”

The only sport at the school that did not use the nickname was field hockey; that team is called the Walpole Porkers.